In a major setback to the Janata Dal (United) six out of seven of its MLAs in Arunachal Pradesh crossed over to join the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday just a day ahead of its national executive meeting in Patna (Dec 26-27).
Though the party president and Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar downplayed it by stating that it is nothing unusual yet political pundits are of the view that everything is not perfectly all right between the two parties. More than the split in Arunachal, it is its timing which is being questioned in the political circles.
As the Janata Dal (United) was to hold its first national executive meeting after the last month Assembly election, it was expected that the party would discuss issues related to its performance in Bihar. But now it seems that the focus would shift to Arunachal Pradesh.
It is true that the BJP-JD(U) alliance exists only in Bihar yet the way in which the BJP poached six out of its seven MLAs has certainly come as a shock to the party’s rank and file.
In 2019 Assembly election in Arunachal Pradesh, the Janata Dal (United) contested 15 seats and won seven of them. The BJP got 42 seats in the house of 60 and was comfortably placed. Yet at the fag end of 2020 it wooed six of the Janata Dal (United) MLAs. Now its strength in the House is 48.
The RJD and Congress got an opportunity to take a potshot at the Janata Dal (United). The opposition parties asked as to when the Janata Dal (United) is going to merge with the BJP?
